The final privacy report expands on a preliminary staff report the FTC issued in December 2010.[1] The final report calls on companies handling consumer data to implement recommendations for protecting privacy, including:

Simplified Choice for Businesses and Consumers — companies should give consumers the option to decide what information is shared about them, and with whom. This should include a Do-Not-Track mechanism that would provide a simple, easy way for consumers to control the tracking of their online activities.

The Report also called on companies to develop standard formats and terminology for privacy statements applicable to their particular industries. The Commission acknowledged the challenges and complexities of providing notice in the mobile environment, and indicated that these factors increase the urgency for companies providing mobile services to develop standard notices, icons, and other disclosures that businesses can use to communicate with consumers in a clear and consistent way. The Commission also supported the development of a Do-Not-Track (DNT) mechanism for both the web and mobile environments.

The final report notes that the FTC received over 450 comments on the staff's preliminary recommendations. Based on technological advances and industry developments since the December 2010 staff report and in response to the comments, the agency is revising recommendations in three areas:

The report refines the guidance for when companies should provide consumers with choice about how their data is used. It states that whether a practice should include choice turns on the extent to which the practice is consistent with the context of the transaction or the consumer's existing relationship with the business or is required or specifically authorized by law. These practices include product fulfillment and fraud prevention.

While Congress considers privacy legislation, the Commission urges individual companies and self-regulatory bodies to accelerate the adoption of the principles contained in the privacy framework, to the extent they have not already done so. Over the course of the next year, Commission staff will work to encourage consumer privacy protections by focusing on five main action items:

Promoting Enforceable Self-Regulatory Codes — The FTC will work with the Department of Commerce and stakeholders to develop industry-specific codes of conduct. To the extent that strong privacy codes are developed, when companies adhere to these codes, the FTC will take that into account in its law enforcement efforts. If companies do not honor the codes they sign up for, they could be subject to FTC enforcement actions.

↑Privacy by Design is an approach that Ann Cavoukian, Ph.D., Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario, Canada, has advocated. See Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario, Canada, Privacy by Design.[1]